Description
Book SynopsisConceiving Agency: Reproductive Authority among Haredi Women explores the ways Haredi Jewish women make decisions about their reproductive lives.
Trade ReviewMichal Raucher is part of a small but growing cohort of scholars working in the field of religious ethics who challenge the former practice of privileging "scriptural sources, religious doctrines and law, and central forms of religious authority" (16) when engaging in bioethical decision-making and formulating health policies.In this precise and carefully researched study, with clear writing making it available to readers of diverse backgrounds, Raucher reveals how she has come to understand how Haredi women in Israel (unfortunately she does not specify which community), who typically have large families, make their reproductive decisions in a number of contexts.
-- Vanessa Ochs - University of Virginia * AJS Review *
Table of ContentsIntroduction
1. Medicine and Religion: Doctors and Rabbis in Israel
2. Books and Babies: Pathways to Authority
3. The Embodiment of Pregnancy
4. Reproductive Theology: Embodying Divine Authority
5. Abortions, Finances, and Women's Reproductive Authority
Conclusion: Haredi Women's Bodies and Beyond
Works Cited
Index
